Helicopters are known as ultra-low-altitude aerial killers. They are a deterrent at treetop height. They are extremely efficient when dealing with light infantry without the ability to counterattack. Two heavy machine guns fixed at the hatch opened fire at the same time. The German troops on the ground were The commandos were unlucky, and even the Italian defenders in the hotel suffered. The machine gunners attacked indiscriminately when strafing, and even the small plane was attacked.
"Be careful, don't destroy the plane. Our target is on the plane -" Shen Fei warned Isaiah loudly, worried about accidentally injuring the fat bald man.
"Understood, he can't escape even if he has wings -" Isaiah was confident that the mercenaries were not stupid either. If Fat Bald had an accident or was taken away by the Germans, they would not get the money.
The Germans still had the ability to fight back. Several German commandos hid behind bunkers and shot at the helicopter.
The huge body of the helicopter was extremely flexible in the air, circling the hotel and continuously shooting towards the ground.
The German commandos suffered heavy losses. The range of the MP40 was limited, and the helicopters stayed outside the range of the MP40 and massacred the commandos.
A German soldier appeared on the second floor of the hotel and fired at the helicopter with a rocket launcher.
The rocket flew towards the helicopter with obvious tail flames, startling the pilot. Fortunately, the rocket at this time did not have a tracking function and could only shoot in a straight line. The helicopter was lucky to escape.
This move obviously angered the pilot, and the helicopter circled in the distance to adjust its direction and installed a grenade launcher to aim at the hotel.
Compared with heavy machine guns, 40mm high-explosive grenades are more efficient at killing infantry. This has been proven by the Southern African military many times. Even if the enemy is hiding behind a bunker, he cannot escape the grenade.
The German commando's counterattack was weakening at this time. The room where the rocket launcher was located on the second floor was immediately taken care of. Several grenades flew into the room and exploded violently. The fire quickly ignited and began to spread to other rooms. The entire hotel was engulfed in flames. and shrouded in thick smoke, like hell.
The helicopter that Shen Fei and Isaiah were riding in approached the platform at this time, preparing to rappel.
Accidents are inevitable.
As soon as the fighting broke out, Fat Bald and Captain Skorzeny tried to leave the plane.
The fat, bald man climbed out of the cabin with difficulty and was about to jump off the wing, but he accidentally fell to the ground.
At this time, the scene was very chaotic. The German commandos who were not afraid of death were still shooting at the helicopter. The helicopter's strafing stirred up a lot of dust, which affected the grenade shooter's sight. A grenade exploded next to the fat bald head. His body was blown away and hit the small plane hard, covered in blood.
Shen Fei and Isaiah were stunned. This situation was something they had not expected.
Skorzeny, who followed Fat Bald out of the cabin, was also stunned. He quickly rushed to Fat Bald's side to check on Fat Bald's condition.
Other German commandos and the shooters on the helicopter also ceased fire. What the hell should we do?
Skorzeny didn't delay for long. He jumped up from the fat bald head, clenched his fists and jumped on his feet to curse at the helicopter.
The fat bald man lying on the ground was motionless, and blood spread from underneath his body.
"It's over, the target mission has died, the mission failed -" Isaiah came to this conclusion from Skorzeny's actions.
Shen Fei was also speechless. It was too late to say anything now. A dead fat bald man had no value.
When the news came back to Algiers, Alvin was completely speechless, and for the first time he doubted the capabilities of the Umbrella Company.
The Umbrella Company has always been the best snake oil and scapegoat for the federal government. No matter what, as long as the federal government is inconvenient to intervene, it is definitely right to leave it to the Umbrella Company, and the mercenaries can handle it obediently.
Now the Umbrella Company has finally broken the myth of omnipotence, and it is such a big fool.
"Fortunately, all our people evacuated smoothly, and the helicopter was not shot down, otherwise we would have been in trouble." Carl Billy secretly rejoiced. Fortunately, the operation was not carried out by the North Africa Division, otherwise Carl Billy would have been responsible for This is responsible.
Just forget about Alvin, no one will hold him accountable.
"There is news from St. Peter's Basilica. The Italians need an explanation and ask us to be responsible for this and compensate Italy for its losses-" Alvin's adjutant Chen Tai was also worried. The Italian troops responsible for guarding the fat bald man suffered heavy casualties, with four people More than ten people were killed and the General Junpu Hotel was burned down. Marshal Badoglio was very angry.
"The Italians' losses were caused by the Germans and have nothing to do with us." Alvin firmly refused to admit it. Don't taint someone's innocence without proof.
"General Eisenhower also sent a telegram. He believed that our actions undermined the ongoing negotiations between the Allies and Italy." Carl Billy was also worried that the pressure was now on Alvin's side, and accusations from all sides were pouring in.
Alvin sneered and said nothing, Eisenhower was looking for a step.
The Battle of Sicily achieved its goal tactically, but was a complete strategic failure. Not only did Italy not withdraw from the war, but it benefited greatly from Fat Bald's resignation.
Since the war started, Italy has suffered huge losses, and all the benefits gained in the early stage have been lost. The war has spread to the Italian mainland, and the Italians are very dissatisfied.
The fat bald man was used as a scapegoat by the King of Italy. After the fat bald man was deposed, the situation in Italy not only did not worsen, but there were some benefits. Badoglio was still influential in the Italian army, even more influential than the fat bald man. All big.
Eisenhower and Alexander were in contact with the new Italian government, but they did not reach an agreement because the new Italian government had too many demands.
The connection between Southern Africa and Italy has not been interrupted. The reason why there is no agreement here is because the requirements of Southern Africa are too harsh.
The southern African side resolutely implements the results of the Casablanca Conference and demands Italy's unconditional surrender. The two sides are bargaining.
"Pretoria asked for confirmation, is the fat bald man dead?" Chen Tai was not sure about the specific situation. Just now, Germany announced the establishment of the Italian Social Republic in Salo, a small town in northern Italy, with the fat bald man as prime minister.
This fully shows that Fat Bald is not dead, and is inconsistent with the situation provided by the umbrella company.
"Even if Fat Bald is not dead, he is at least seriously injured and cannot be prime minister." Carl Billy is also not sure. The mercenaries of the Umbrella Company have not completed the airborne landing, so he is not sure whether Fat Bald is dead or not.
"This issue is not important. Keep putting pressure on the Italians." Alvin stood up to find Patton. The situation was not yet irreversible.
"It's difficult to get Italy out of the war quickly -" Patton looked at Alvin with helplessness. There is still a gap between you and your father.
If Rock had handled this matter personally, the Germans would have had no chance at all. Patton didn't know why, but he had never doubted Rock's ability.
However, there are few people like Rock who are invincible. Alvin is a normal person who has wins and losses.
At least Alvin didn't recover after a setback, and Barton still appreciated it.
"It doesn't matter whether Italy can withdraw from the war quickly. Now the Italians' purpose is to delay time. We can't give the Italians any chance." Alvin's execution ability is a bit problematic, but his judgment is still fine.
Italy had the best of both worlds and continued to stay in the Axis countries while maintaining contact with the Allied countries. It was nothing more than waiting for a price.
Now the Allies are in a dilemma and are reluctant to cut off contact with the Italians. After all, this is a good opportunity to end the war quickly.
However, as it continued to drag on, the Allied forces gradually fell into passivity. After the British and American coalition took Sicily, they did not continue to advance towards the Apennine Peninsula. This gave the Italians a chance to linger and bought more time for Mustache.
Alvin received news that Mustache is drawing troops from Germany and is ready to occupy all of Italy at any time. If the Germans do this, future battles in the Apennine Peninsula will be even more difficult.
"I had phone calls with General Eisenhower and Marshal Alexander respectively. They didn't want to force the Italians too much and hoped to use peaceful means to get Italy out of the war." Patton did a lot of work, but unfortunately the results were not great.
There are also many contradictions within the Allied Forces, including in southern Africa. All countries have selfish motives and their interests cannot be reconciled. This is the root of all contradictions.
If the Allied forces work together, Russia holds back the Germans on the northern front, and the Allies work together on the southern front, then the war will end not only in 1943, but at most next year, that is, in 1944.
Now it seems that the end of the war is far away.
In the past, when the United States did not participate in the war, southern Africa and the United Kingdom had no choice but to divert trouble to the north.
After the United States joined, the strength of the Allied forces far exceeded that of the Axis powers, and the Germans had no chance of winning. At this time, internal problems arose within the Allied forces, and people could only do nothing.
"We had an agreement with the Italians before that as long as our troops appear in Rome, Italy will withdraw from the war." Alvin insisted on sabotaging the negotiations between Britain, the United States and Italy, even if he brought in Germans.
Among the conditions offered by the United States to the Italians, one of them requires Italy to lease the island of Pantelleria, located between Sicily and Tunisia, to the United States, with the conditions referring to the island of Malta.
The location of Pantelleria Island is very important, as it is the only way to connect the Italian mainland and North Africa. If Pantelleria Island is controlled, the Americans will also have a say in the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean is already lively enough now, and if Americans join in, it will become a mess.’
"We cannot completely trust the Italians, and we all know that it does not depend on the Italians when they withdraw from the war." Patton knew the situation in Italy very well.
Whether Italy withdraws from the war or not, its security depends on the will of Mustache, and Badoglio and Nasty III have no say.
The Allies are now holding back because of Italy's repeated attacks, and the once-noisy Second Battlefield in Europe has been shelved. The current situation is very bad for the Allies. Even if Germany completely controls Italy, it will be more beneficial to the Allies than it is now.
If Germany completely controls Italy, the Allies can continue to advance northward, which is better than the current stalemate.
Rock didn't pay attention to this failed operation at all. Whether the fat bald man died or lived, it would not change the situation much. Rock's focus now was still on the Russian battlefield.
The air battle between the Germans and Russia in the Caucasus became increasingly larger and larger, eventually leading to the largest offensive battle since World War II - the Battle of Kursk.
After the Battle of Volgograd, the Russian army took advantage of the victory to attack and regained a large amount of lost territory. The German army, under the command of Manstein, prepared to counterattack, and both sides were gathering strength.
Manstein was so cunning that he voluntarily gave up some strategic locations that were difficult to defend, luring the Russian army into deep combat. The Russian army's front became longer and longer, while the German army completed the concentration of troops in the process of retreating.
In mid-May, Manstein commanded the newly formed Army Group South to launch a counterattack against the Russian Southwest Front between the Donets River and the Dnieper River.
The Southwest Front suffered heavy losses and the 5th Army was completely wiped out.
The German army began to attack Kharkov, and Russia was forced to abandon the newly recaptured Kharkov and retreat to the Oboyan area south of Kursk.
In order to prevent the front from completely collapsing, Beard moved the 1st Tank Army south from St. Petersburg. In addition, the 21st and 64th Army were also moved in this direction from Volgograd. By mid-June, the front became stable.
Manstein's counterattack created a protrusion centered on Kursk. In the north of the protrusion, the German Army Group Center controlled the Orel area.
To the south of the salient, Manstein's Army Group South controlled the Belgorod area, with the Russian Central Front and the Voronezh Front on its front.
Centered on this protrusion, a large-scale battle was brewing. Both Manstein and Zhukov were desperately mobilizing troops. Both sides assembled nearly 3 million troops, tens of thousands of artillery pieces, thousands of tanks and aircraft.
At this time, neither Manstein nor Zhukov realized the significance of the ensuing battle to this global war.
Rock knows.
Although it is customary for people to regard the Battle of Volgograd as the turning point of World War II.
In fact, it was after the Battle of Kursk that the German army completely lost the initiative in the war.
At the Casablanca Conference, the Allies promised to provide more assistance to Russia. After that, the British and American troops launched a landing operation in Sicily, and support to Russia was temporarily suspended.
Assistance from southern Africa increased rapidly after the Casablanca Conference. Various supplies from southern Africa continued to arrive in Russia through the Asia Minor Peninsula and the Arctic route. Warships from the Cyprus Squadron also entered the Black Sea to cooperate with the Russian army in the Sea of Azov.
In a nearby attack, on June 5, pilot Wang Lang from Nyasaland, flying a Cheetah fighter, shot down the BF109 piloted by Erich Hartmann over the Kuban River. Erich Hartmann himself was lucky.
escape.
This was not the first time that Erich Hartmann was shot down. This was also a guy with incredible luck.
Since joining the war, Erich Hartmann's plane has been shot down five times, and Erich Hartmann was lucky enough to survive each time.
Once or twice is lucky, but five times in a row cannot be explained by luck.
